Community Partnerships

Since its inception, Community Action has championed comprehensive, community-wide efforts to strengthen our community’s capacity to support of all its members. The mission and core value statements adopted by the Board of Directors serve as a guiding light:

Community Action is dedicated to promoting economic justice and improving the quality of life for people with lower incomes. We believe that we can accomplish this mission only when our activities are directed by and inclusive of people with low income. Our efforts will be in response to local needs, conducted with an awareness of national trends and policies, organized within strong community-wide partnerships, and respectful of and sensitive to the diversity and strengths of all community members.

The agency’s partnerships in the community operate at three levels:

  • The first level is intra- and inter-agency linkages that ease and enhance service delivery and case management on behalf of individual families.
  • The second level of collaboration is participation in groups that benefit our region and the families we serve, including the Communities That Care Coalition, the Franklin County Resource Network, the Family Literacy Collaborative, the Strategic Partnership for Families and Youth (SPIFFY), and the Council of Social Agencies of Hampshire County (COSA). The community partnerships directly sponsored by Community Action are featured here.

Communities That Care Coalition
Franklin County Resource Network

  • The third level of collaboration involves is blending of financial and programmatic resources to provide new or wrap-around services, including co-location. Within Community Action, several programs blend funds in order to provide the best possible service, e.g. Early Head Start and the Family Learning Center. Other partners at this level include Valuing Our Children, Quabbin Mediation, and DIAL/SELF Teen and Community Services.

For more information about our Community Partnerships, please contact:
 Ann Darling, Development and Planning Director, at 413-376-1125